murrayec

Spot on Broithe, I reckon that would be very handy, I see also it comes with pens- a bit of cost saving there! Eoin

I believe their looking for candidates who can handle high speed vehicles, and on/off switches for blue flashing lights Eoin

Noel Forget 'green credentials' relating to launching rockets! sending people out into space to their doom is a far worse crime, on earth we put people away for this.... Eoin

Noel Sure its all there for you curtsy of Mr Musk- stick the rocket together and then throw it into the microwave until slightly brown on the edges...... Eoin

Hi IRM Very disappointed with you guys that Mr musk got there before you! I know he has loads more money then you but your rocket would not be as big as his and it could be made out of lightweight materials- though I do recommend using metal near the engines just in case - plastic might melt with the heat.... 'Space Bubble' Eoin

Yes pretty cool technology, it is a great development for getting into space and keeping costs down- such a pity that their first test lift flight was a car, something that's totally useless in space! Would have been far better to have programmed the test lift with a necessary space exploration probe- many are been worked on and need to get into space, but hay that's American Candy Shop Corporation buzz! At least SpaceX have changed their idea about sending people to Mars and leaving them totally stranded with no escape, they are now talking about bringing them back- this may be to do with NASA refusing to hire out the launch facility to send people to their doom... Mr Musk gave a number of talks last year about their plans for the Mars missions, its like a Fantasy Film- I read in the Geographic last year SpaceX had 25,000 applications to go to Mars after the release of 'The Martian' He claims that their system will move 1 million people 100 at a time every two years to Mars in about 40 to 100 years, and Mars would be terra-formed by the time the 1 million are there! He doesn't seem to be able to do the maths- one spaceship will move 5,000 people in 100 years!, he will need 200 spaceships in the proposed time scale. Also previous estimates in terra-forming Mars are 500 to anywhere near 1,000 years and there is a big doubt that it can be done- one theory on the Mars atmosphere is that it was once like Earth and the atmosphere leaked out- whats to stop that happening while terra-forming it again, its all guess work at the moment. He also talks about building a city on Mars for the 1 million Martians, a surface city, but says absolutely nothing about the radiation problem that exists outside our severely protected Earth. A large solar flare without Earth protection is instant death- one of the main reasons astronomers/cosmologists believe Mars is dead. The people working on the radiation problem while going to, and staying on Mars, recommend living 20m under the surface, under solid rock- cant do that in a spaceship. They could bring a radiation protection vessel on board the ship, but that would take up all the flight payload- though they could use it on the surface to live in until they dig the mine..... Mr Musk mentions none of this! He also says that an initial flight ticket will cost 250,000 dollars and may reduce to less than 100,000 later on. When he was asked about who they would choose to go on the first human flight, his first words were 'if your prepared to die you can go'... 'it's going to be pretty risky at first'.... 'but hay you got to live it up'.... He also said that the first flight would be in 2022! In the same Geographic article mentioned above it said;- after SpaceX achieved the first booster return and landing in 2016 Mr Musk announced that they would be sending people to Mars in the next couple of years- NASA said 'Not from here mate' Its interesting stuff but....... Eoin

Thanks Guys I agree David, scratch building is less fettled, I think its because it's us designing and making the parts as we go and not a chap at a drawing board who will never actually build the model he designs! Thats not throughout the kit designer industry, but I have had some major problems with kits, and also, read about it..... Eoin

Hi Noel I'd be very worried about what I would get for €50.00 inc free delivery to Irishland- sure a courier would charge approx £30 to move an item that size- not much left over for the cabinet!! Eoin

Hi Noel One cannot buy from Picture Pride, one has to go through their agents and Marks is the Irish agent- not sure how strict this is. If I told you how much CM paid I'd have to shoot you, and CM would probably shoot me.... Go onto the Picture Pride website and select what you want, then give Marks a call for a quote Eoin

Hi Noel David does do them, but this is a Picture Pride job thru Marks Models Eoin

A vertical storage yard was installed at Greystones Layout recently;-

Hi all, Some work has been going on the Scot build;- The boiler and footplate are getting their final components, the boiler is bolt fixed to the footplate so it can be removed from the footplate for painting both and lining the boiler- far easier to do if they come apart. Footplate detail- lubricators, exhaust pipe casing n stuff. The casing required major filling to get it to sit in under the smokebox snuggle in. Thats one side done, the other to go, then all the little pipelines in PB wire. When in place and with the boiler handrails installed I'm ready to start painting...... Wheel crankpin upgrade was decided, Mr Mundy's Heavy Duty Crankpins were acquired, a nice little set of brass pins and round head NS screws out front to finish. The wheels have to be drilled out and the pins are retained by a brass countersunk screw sunk in the back of the wheel. Filling down the crankpins to a smidgen above the rods Test fitting the drive wheels, crankpins, and rods. Bogie truck and pony truck assembled- some problems with the crankpins!! The front wheel crankpin screw was fouling the connecting rod- by the thickness of the screw head, so all apart again I modified the crankpins by turning down the middle collar- I had a feeling it was a bit fat. I also turned down the screw heads for the front wheels to get the max clearance behind the connecting rod. The top ones in each photo are the modified Then assembly again, final assembly this time..... The crankpin mod works- its very tight though Nearly there for a test run....... Eoin

Thanks jhb Yes a 141 Gauge N is in the making, and others! here is a link;- Eoin

Hi all Well still waiting for the bogie parts, but in the mean time I got the second bonnet up and running and also started on some of the small detail bits Exhaust pipe components- aluminium tube with soldered brass mounting brackets A bit of moulding done to create the bonnet headlamp bodies- the trusty Model T van was used, a nice set of lamps on the front, did not want to wreck the part so I did a mould around the lights still on the radiator grill! it worked two lamp bodies drilled to take little LEDs Ladders, other exhaust n brackets, the horns, and the side bonnet radiator water filler caps- all brass I'm thinking of making up my own motor chassis for this project, but unfortunately I cannot show a sketch, today my workshop PC decided to melt one of its drives and the walker directory was in that sector, fortunately I could back up most of the drive and thankfully I had done a system backup last month, unfortunately the edit to the drawing with the chassis design was only last week and it did not get saved in that backup, and again- fortunately Windows has a secret directory that backups get saved, even incremental! I got almost all the data back from here and it needs a few hours drawing and I'm back to last weeks version...... Backups guys, is very important anyway, brass etched bogie with Mashima motor on top n pulley drive all hung off a PCB chassis plate, I've setup a drawing of the bogie frames to make a mould, this includes connection rods & crank counter weights to be etched in brass- i'll make contact again on supply of these parts and then make a decision..... Eoin

CM sent a few photos;- "Extraordinary event at Greystones. 141 failed while hauling PWD ballast wagons, the nearest available loco was sent to clear single track. This was at Bray. The loco was quickly detached from its train, a Steam Excursion Special, sent around Bray Head and successfully took the wagons to Greystones." 617 backs up into the yard Connected up now and heading off by the Breeches to the main line and off to greystones Nice wagons them..... CM & Eoin

Ok, so did a bit of sticking together tonight, defo needs adjustment all over- it's like etching, it needs a magic number added or subtracted to all panels depending on which way the bend goes. So here are a few photos of the attempt- though a lot of info gleaned from this;- It is looking good for the Xerox sheet idea, I'm not going any further with this assembly, I'll wait until I modify the drawing and test print again.... and here is a sketch of the motor bogie idea, the yellow shading is the PCB chassis plate Eoin

Hi Guys The first test print on the Xerox sheet was in from the printers this evening, the tan colour was way off into the orange area, and the chequer-plate on the footplate way to bright- a few small adjustments required and then another test. Anyway I stuck it into the Silhouette Cameo cutting machine and all went well, lined up first time and I got this out The holes for the lights and handrails are spot on their positions, but a bit on the large size A few adjustments will be required to the cutting line but the only mess is on the ladders and the cab side window mullions. I'll still try and fold this up and see how that works before I go back for the second test print- maybe more adjustments will be needed. On the chassis- I have drawn up a 1015 Mashima motor bogie with flywheel, and belt & pulley drive, with a PCB board chassis plate, this idea is being developed up for the Walker build in 4mm I'm doing, but the idea can be implemented here, I think, I hope A bit of origami is now required...... Eoin

Wow JHB I'll go for a refill...... Eoin

Hi All Next Fair;-

Hi A know a guy, his Da many moons ago stored a 1:1 Model T in parts, in his attic! Later the house was sub-divided and access to get it out was lost- bar opening up the roof or a ceiling. Don't know if it is still there....... Eoin

Defo needed on the DART late at night........ Eoin

Hi John I had an SW9/1200 in my fist recently and thought it would work and then promptly forgot about it! Thanks for the reminder Eoin

Noel I'm surprised with you 10mm at this scale is the length of a 141 cab! Eoin